


Jellies in the Water

by Reshiramu



Series: 100 Themes Challenge [8]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions
Genre: Death, Drowning, Gen, Monologue, POV First Person, Siblings, beach, mentioned grief
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:55:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24463879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reshiramu/pseuds/Reshiramu
Summary: A woman in Icirrus City remembers the day she discovered why Frillish and Jellicent were feared in her home city of Undella.
Series: 100 Themes Challenge [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1748860
Kudos: 5
Collections: Quote Prompt Memes





	Jellies in the Water

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [planetundersiege](https://archiveofourown.org/users/planetundersiege/pseuds/planetundersiege) in the [quoteonlyprompts](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/quoteonlyprompts) collection. 



> **Prompt:**  
>  "I have been afraid of the ocean ever since."
> 
> \--
> 
> 100 Themes: 8. Innocence

Frillish and Jellicent are bad luck. Bad signs. You shake your head at that, but I know it to be fact. Everyone in Undella knows. I mean - is it really so strange? Litwick and their evolutions are boogeymen across the region, devouring the souls of the living, the dying, and the dead. We respect Zoroark because they stop the Litwick and their ilk.

I was a young girl once, naive and scoffing at the superstitions of Undella. I didn't understand why they feared Frillish so much - they looked so innocent. But looks are deceiving. Yes, before that day I didn't know death, I didn't know loss. And I giggled as the city gossiped.

I remember that day I took my Ducklett to the beach. That was the day innocence died for me, I think. What? Yes, everyone loses their innocence. This is how I lost mine. Anyways…

There I was, walking down the sand. It was a warm summer day, and the sea sparkled under sunlight. The breeze blew the scent of brine into everyone's nostrils, and my brother trailed behind me. He was a good kid, and he was my best friend once upon a time. He was so excited about his journey. Why, he'd talk everyone's ears off!

You're leaning forward. Of course. 

  
  


We gamboled across the beach, giggling as the spray lashed at our heels. Ducklett flew overhead, quacking his little heart out. As we went further, the sand got wetter. The lifeguard yelled at us right about then.

"You kids don't wanna go out in the water!" he shouted. He was waving his hands for our attention. "The Frillish are out!"

We were just kids. We didn't understand. We didn't listen. And after we went a bit further across the sand, we ran out into the cool water. It felt so good under the harsh sunlight. Kami… we could've swam in there forever.

And all of a sudden there was splashing and screaming. And my brother was pulled underwater. I made my way over, feeling like I was fighting against a rip tide in my desperation. Think my heart was hammering. The water splattered all around as I went as fast as my arms and legs could carry me, but I wasn't strong enough.

I started trying to pull him up, and then I noticed the pink Frillish that had him in its embrace. He was panicking and thrashing and Kami, his kicks hurt but it was my own brother and I had to save him. But I couldn't hold on - the Frillish was dragging both of us down, and the thrashing was going to bring me down as well. I lost my grip. I lost my grip and it keeps playing in my head.

I had water in my nose, the taste of salt in my mouth, and stinging eyes. And I could feel the water rushing as we moved. I could feel how slippery he was as I couldn't hold on. And the Frillish kept going further and further out. I saw it drag him down - he stopped moving, and my lungs were burning and I desperately thrashed and paddled towards the surface. When I broke the surface, he'd probably drowned. I gasped for air and coughed, before poking my head back underwater, but…

I couldn't see him any longer. I felt someone paddling up. An arm held me close, and I struggled before I saw the lifeguard. The lifeguard took me back to the beach, and Ducklett dove down in a flurry of feathers before the lifeguard shooed him off. And… my brother was just gone.

  
  


My parents soon came to get me and Ducklett. The lifeguard pulled them aside, but I still heard 'taken by a Frillish.' ...gods. I'm not gonna forget Mom's face. Dad was just silent, ashen, his eyes sparkling. Mom gasped for air like she too was drowning, and it scared me. They were quick to take me home. But my brother wasn't coming home. He was dead and my parents were terrified and I was numb. I didn't feel for a while, and then I was angry and I cried because why him? Why?

  
  


We moved away from Undella after that. Went to Icirrus because it was so different and we wouldn't see my brother everywhere in the city. I still saw him everywhere in the house, though. In the colours he liked, in the games we'd play together. All the food we cooked. It was just… painful and different. I'd learned of death the hard way, and ever since… I have been afraid of the ocean ever since. You can't see where those Frillish are lurking until they get close.


End file.
